Standard Lemma guide

mercaptan

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /məˈkapt(ə)n/
  • US: /mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/
  • rhymes with (US, General Australian) -æptən

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R-SH ) where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. They tend to be foul-smelling. They are also termed thiols or thioalcohols.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: sulfid — sulphuric compound
  • Czech: sirník — sulphuric compound
  • French: mercaptan — sulphuric compound
  • German: Mercaptan — sulphuric compound
  • Italian: mercaptano — sulphuric compound
  • Spanish: mercaptano — sulphuric compound